Related videos:
A 29-year-old young mother, identified as Yailin Carrasco Pérez and the mother of three girls, was brutally murdered on the morning of July 22 in the Pastorita Popular Council in Cienfuegos.
The crime occurred around 6:30 a.m. on Vial Road, Universidad, when the victim, accompanied by one of her three daughters, reportedly went to meet her assailant, according to revealed on Facebook by the official profile "Las Cosas de Fernanda."
According to residents of the community near the José Gregorio Martínez Polytechnic -quoted by the source- the heartbreaking cries of the girl alerted the neighbors.
“They killed my mom!”, the six-year-old girl reportedly shouted, having identified her mother’s partner as the attacker.
The subject has already been arrested and is "under criminal investigation," according to the source.
The case has caused dismay in the community and has once again highlighted the severity of misogynistic violence in Cuba, a growing problem that, despite efforts for visibility from civil society and especially from independent feminist platforms, continues to go without an effective response from the State.
According to activist Saúl Manuel on his social media, the alleged perpetrator of the crime would be an escaped inmate, an extremely serious piece of information that, if true, would reveal a concerning chain of institutional negligence.
“Yailin ‘La China’... was murdered by her partner who escaped from prison,” wrote Manuel, who detailed that, unfortunately, the woman died by being slashed in the throat.
The use of the term “passionate violence”: A dangerous euphemism
In its coverage of the event, the pro-government profile Las cosas de Fernanda persistently referred to the incident as "passionate violence", although in part of the extensive text, it did use the term feminicide once.
Euphemisms such as "crime of passion" or "passionate violence," still common in Cuban official discourse, are a way to minimize and depoliticize hate crimes against women.
When talking about "passion," it is suggested that there is an uncontrollable emotion that justifies, or at least explains, murder.
To call this murder "passionate violence" not only dilutes its severity, but also renders the category of feminicide invisible, which has not even been legally recognized in Cuba.
Ultimately, this type of language contributes to the symbolic impunity of aggressors and perpetuates a culture that normalizes violence against women.
Fidel, Marxism, and the Ongoing Contradiction of the System
The text shared by Las cosas de Fernanda included a lengthy and dizzying reflection on the alleged revolutionary struggle for gender equality, with references to Fidel Castro and Marxism.
It was emphasized that "the 1959 Revolution brought with it a commitment to gender equality," although it was timidly acknowledged that patriarchal structures persist.
This narrative is deeply contradictory. On one hand, Fidel's legacy is celebrated as a promoter of women's rights; on the other hand, it is acknowledged that gender-based violence has neither been eradicated nor even contained.
But the analysis ends up blaming the "capitalist system" for these violences, even in a country where the press, education, laws, and media are controlled by a system that defines itself as socialist.
The omission of the role of the Cuban state in the lack of prevention, protection, and justice policies for women is intentional and serves the official narrative.
It is not capitalism that kills women in Cuba; it is the unchecked machismo, allowed by a State that refuses to recognize femicide as a specific crime and does not establish effective protection protocols for victims.
The death penalty: A solution or a distraction?
Finally, the official text proposes the reinstatement of the death penalty for crimes of this nature, citing the need to end the current "moratorium."
This proposal—which calls for extreme punishment—is symptomatic of the Cuban regime's lack of structural responses to gender-based violence.
Far from proposing prevention mechanisms, shelters, comprehensive laws, or education with a gender perspective, the death of the aggressors is proposed as the only solution.
This punitive approach conceals the root of the problem: the lack of an effective protection system for women. Yailin Carrasco Pérez did not die from an uncontrollable “passion.” She was murdered, allegedly by a man with whom she had a relationship, who possibly had escaped from prison, and who acted with complete impunity.
His case, like so many others, demands a radical change in the way official media and institutions address gender violence in Cuba.
Naming femicide is an act of justice. Acknowledging the responsibility of the State is a duty.
As long as there is talk of "passionate violence" and the legacy of those who did not confront these crimes firmly continues to be glorified, women in Cuba will keep dying without protection, without justice, and without a voice.
As of the closure of this note, feminist platforms have not reported on the case.
Filed under: